The Analyst

Tottenham take a slender lead into the second leg of their League Cup semi-final against Liverpool, but can they hold on to it in front of a raucous Anfield crowd? We look ahead to the game with our Liverpool vs Tottenham prediction and preview.

Liverpool vs Tottenham Stats: The Key Insights

Despite trailing in the tie, Liverpool remain favourites to make it through to the EFL Cup final, progressing to Wembley in 61.3% of the Opta supercomputer’s simulations.

Liverpool have lost just one of their last 27 home games against Tottenham in all competitions (W19 D7), and are unbeaten in 14 (W10 D4) since a 2-0 loss in May 2011.

Liverpool have progressed to the final on two of the last three occasions they’ve lost the first leg of a League Cup semi-final, doing so against Crystal Palace in 2000-01 and Sheffield United in 2002-03.

Tottenham Hotspur are one game away from reaching their ninth League Cup final and their first since 2020-21, where they ultimately lost to Manchester City. Their League Cup triumph in 2007-08 remains the last time they won a trophy.

Spurs hold a slender 1-0 advantage heading into their decisive away leg against Liverpool. Lucas Bergvall scored the winner in the first leg, sweeping home from inside the box in the closing stages in north London. The Swedish youngster could become the first Spurs player to score in both legs of a League Cup semi-final since Roman Pavlyuchenko in 2008-09.

Bergvall was arguably lucky to still be on the pitch when he scored, though, fortunate not to receive a second yellow card for a late challenge on Kostas Tsimikas. His winner made him the youngest Spurs player (18y 341d) to score in the League Cup since Gareth Bale in September 2007 (18y 72d vs Middlesbrough).

Despite trailing on aggregate, Liverpool will be very confident of overturning the one-goal deficit on Thursday. Since losing to Nottingham Forest in September, they are unbeaten in 15 games at home in all competitions, scoring at least twice in each of those matches. They’ve also progressed to the final on two of the last three occasions they’ve lost the first leg of a League Cup semi-final, doing so against Crystal Palace in 2000-01 and Sheffield United in 2002-03.

Mohamed Salah was once again the hero for Liverpool last weekend as they overcame a high-quality Bournemouth side to strengthen their grip at the top of the Premier League.

Salah scored a brace – a penalty and a beautiful curled effort 15 minutes from time – to seal the win. The Egyptian has been involved in nine goals in his last six appearances against Tottenham in all competitions, scoring six and assisting three, and will be a key threat once again.

Spurs, meanwhile, secured an impressive away win at Brentford in their last game, their first victory in the Premier League in seven matches. It was by no means a comfortable win, though, with Brentford attempting 20 shots and registering 2.29 xG – both were their highest totals in a Premier League game where they failed to score. Yet Spurs held on, and they will look to take that defensive resilience to Anfield.

They’ll need it, as their recent record away to Liverpool is poor. Tottenham have not won a fixture there since 2011 – a 2-0 victory towards the end of the season – failing in 14 attempts (D4 L11). That said, they have remained competitive in those fixtures, with only four of those defeats coming by a margin of more than one goal.

Liverpool will be without Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was substituted at Bournemouth and has been ruled out for this fixture. Conor Bradley is expected to deputise at right-back. Joe Gomez is Liverpool’s only other absentee, meaning Arne Slot’s side are close to full strength.

The same can certainly not be said for the visitors. Spurs were hit with yet another injury blow at Brentford at the weekend, with Radu Dragusin ruled out for the season with an ACL injury.

First-team regulars Destiny Udogie, Guglielmo Vicario, and Brennan Johnson are nearing a return but will not be available for this match. Micky van de Ven has also been ruled out by Ange Postecoglou. Cristian Romero and Dominic Solanke remain long-term absentees. New signings Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso, however, are fit and available.

Liverpool vs Tottenham Head-to-Head

Liverpool have lost just one of their last 27 home games against Tottenham in all competitions (W19 D7), and are unbeaten in 14 (W10 D4) since a 2-0 loss in May 2011.

Tottenham are looking to beat Liverpool twice in the same season for the first time since 2010-11, when they did the double over them in the Premier League.

Liverpool vs Tottenham Prediction

Liverpool are strong favourites to win this match inside 90 minutes according to the Opta supercomputer, winning on the night in 73.3% of the pre-game simulations. Tottenham won or drew inside 90 minutes in 26.7% of simulations, with either result enough to take them to the final at Wembley.

When factoring in extra-time and penalties, the Opta supercomputer sees Liverpool reach the EFL Cup final in 61.3% of simulations, while Tottenham progress 38.7% of the time.

Opta Power Rankings

The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system. They assign an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams. This score is on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.

Ahead of kick-off on Thursday night, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.

Mathys Tel finally secured a loan move away from Bayern Munich to join Tottenham Hotspur on deadline day. Can he provide the boost Spurs need in what has been a dreadful 2024-25?

After what was one of the most drawn-out transfer stories of the winter window, Mathys Tel finally secured a move to a Premier League club with hours to spare on deadline day.

After being linked to Manchester United and Chelsea throughout the month, it was Tottenham Hotspur who took the short-term gamble on the teenager to give them a much-needed lift in the final months of the season.

This is a move that should work for both parties. Tottenham have acquired one of the most exciting teenagers in European football, while Tel should get the playing time he was lacking at Bayern Munich.

It’s hardly unsurprising given he is still just 19 years of age and the depth of attacking talent elsewhere at the club, but Tel has had to make do with coming off the bench to make an impact for most of his career at Bayern.

Overall, just 16 of his 83 competitive appearances for the German club have come in the starting lineup and he’s played just over half of his minutes in a Bayern shirt as a substitute (51.8%).

But he has made a decent impact off the bench, scoring 10 goals and assisting 5 more in 1,281 minutes as a substitute. Overall, those 10 goals as a sub are more than any other player for a Bundesliga club since his Bayern debut in August 2022.

His first goal for Bayern came as a starter in their 5-0 DFB-Pokal victory over Viktoria Köln in August 2022. With that goal, he became Bayern’s all-time youngest scorer, aged just 17 years and 126 days old.

Ten days later, he scored against Stuttgart on his first start in the Bundesliga, becoming Bayern’s youngest-ever scorer in the competition and the fourth-youngest (17 years, 136 days) overall behind only Youssoufa Moukoko, Florian Wirtz and Nuri Sahin.

Since the start of last season, Tel has been one of the most impressive teenagers in European football for attacking output. Across all competitions, only Spanish wonderkid Lamine Yamal (37) has been involved in more goals than Tel (17) among teenagers from the top five European leagues. However, Tel’s much more limited game time has seen him average a goal involvement every 110 minutes, which is more frequent than Yamal (143 mins).

Tel’s main strength is his ability to travel with the ball and make things happen. Across all competitions since the start of last season, Tel has averaged 1.54 shots per 90 following ball carries – that’s higher than any other Bundesliga player to have played at least 1,500 competitive minutes.

He’s a high-volume shooter in general, with only Victor Boniface (4.7), Deniz Undav (4.5), Harry Kane (4.2) and Michael Gregoritsch (4.0) averaging more shots per 90 than him (3.9) across all competitions for Bundesliga clubs since the start of last season (minimum 1,500 mins played).

The Frenchman also features high up the rankings for take-ons. Among the same group of players, he is only below Jamie Gittens (3.9), Jamal Musiala (3.7), Brajan Gruda (3.7) and Leroy Sané (3.2) for successful take-ons per 90, with Tel (3.1) using his pace to outwit opponents. His 52% success rate in take-ons is higher than all of those aforementioned players.

Coming from a team that likes to press high up the pitch will be useful too, with Spurs the most prolific pressing team in the Premier League in that regard under Ange Postecoglou. Across all competitions since the start of 2023-24, Bayern have averaged the most high turnovers per game (10.0) and have the lowest PPDA of 10.6 – opposition passes per defensive action – among Bundesliga clubs.

Tel will offer versatility to Postecoglou for the rest of this season. His most common position for Bayern has been on the left wing, from where Tel can cut inside on to his right foot. That is how he scored three of his seven league goals last season.

With Spurs captain Son Heung-min playing from the left, it’s likely the Frenchman will have to find somewhere else to fit in. Son has struggled for consistency this season, though, and this could be an ideal opportunity to add some competition on that flank. With the option to buy Tel permanently at the end of the season, he could even become Son’s long-term successor.

It’s also unlikely he’ll be able to oust Dominic Solanke in the number nine position, with the former Bournemouth man so crucial to Spurs’ out-of-possession work. That means the right wing might be where he gets most of opportunities at Spurs when both Son and Solanke are fit.

Although by no means one-footed, Tel isn’t as strong on his left, converting just one of 17 left-foot shots in all competitions since the start of last season (5.9%) compared to seven of 56 (12.5%) with his right. Therefore, if deployed from the right flank at Spurs, he’d likely become less threatening in the situations he’s caught the eye in while playing on the left at Bayern. That’s not to say he won’t shoot on his right foot from the right wing, but Tel may find it harder to get himself into dangerous positions on that side of the pitch.

Tel’s arrival comes at a time where Spurs are in need of bodies, too. Attacking players Solanke, Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner, James Maddison and Wilson Odobert are all currently out injured, although most are expected to return later this month.

All five of those are near certain to be out for Tottenham’s crucial EFL Cup semi-final second-leg tie against Liverpool this week, whereas Tel should be free to make his debut as the club look to reach the final in their quest for a first piece of silverware since winning the same competition in 2008.

Back then, it was a player they brought into the club in January who made the difference, with Jonathan Woodgate scoring the winner in the final against Chelsea. Only time will tell if Tel can be the difference this time.

Brentford are favoured by the Opta supercomputer to inflict yet more misery on Spurs this weekend. Look ahead to the game at the Gtech Community Stadium with our Brentford vs Tottenham prediction and preview.

Brentford vs Tottenham Stats: The Key Insights

The Opta supercomputer makes Brentford the favourites, giving them a 44.2% win probability to Tottenham’s 31.9%.

Ange Postecoglou could be become the first Spurs manager in over 30 years to oversee five straight Premier League defeats.

Brentford are the league’s leading home scorers but have failed to win their past four at the Gtech.

Tottenham are looking to arrest an alarming run of form to alleviate the pressure on Ange Postecoglou when they make the short trip to face Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday.

Postecoglou is a man under increasing scrutiny at Spurs, who have lost six of their past seven Premier League matches (D1), with no team amassing fewer points since this run started on 22 December.

You have to go back over 20 years for the last time Spurs lost five games in a row, a run of six in October and November 2004 – a streak that included three defeats each for Jacques Santini and Martin Jol.

No Spurs manager has lost five on the spin since Ossie Ardiles way back in 1994, with the Argentine overseeing seven straight defeats.

A win in the Europa League on Thursday provided some respite, though. Tottenham’s academy trio of Mikey Moore, Dane Scarlett and Damola Ajayi helped them overcome Elfsborg 3-0 to confirm their passage into the competition’s last 16.

Results may have been underwhelming, but for the neutral, there’s been no shortage of excitement in matches under Postecoglou. His 61 top-flight games have seen an average of 3.6 goals per match—the highest goal ratio of any manager with 50 or more matches managed (120 goals for, 98 against). The fewest games required for a manager to both score and concede over 100 goals is 65, a record set by former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi.

While Tottenham have struggled as a collective, Dejan Kulusevski has been a bright note. No player has created more open-play chances than his 51 in the Premier League this season, while his average of 2.5 created per 90 minutes this term is bettered by only two Spurs players in a season on record (minimum 900 minutes) – Christian Eriksen in 2015-16 (2.6 per 90) and Aaron Lennon in 2010-11 (2.51 per 90).

In a good omen for Spurs, Brentford’s previously strong home record has hit a rough patch, with the Bees now winless in their past four at the Gtech (D1, L3). They have now gone 13 matches without a home clean sheet, last having a longer league run between November 2003 and April 2004 (14). They are, however, the league’s leading scorers on home soil with 29 and picked up just their second win from 10 games at Crystal Palace last weekend.

Interestingly, the team scoring first in this fixture has failed to win the previous five encounters, with Spurs fighting back to win twice, Brentford once, and two draws.

You should certainly expect goals in this one, too. Brentford and Tottenham are two of three sides, alongside Wolves, whose games have seen 80-plus goals in the Premier League this season (83 for Spurs, 82 for Brentford). The Bees have faced the most shots faced against them (429), and only four sides have had more than Spurs’ 333 shots at goal.

Bryan Mbeumo is likely to be the hosts’ danger man. The Cameroon forward has 17 goal involvements this term (14 goals, 3 assists), with only four players involved in more. Ivan Toney is the only player to have recorded more in a single season for Brentford (20 goals, 4 assists in the 2022-23 campaign).

Thomas Frank was hopeful Kevin Schade and Christian Nørgaard would be fine after both were substituted in last weekend’s win at Palace, though Rico Henry has a hamstring issue after only recently returning from a long lay-off.

Tottenham’s scarcely believable injury list has undoubtedly contributed to their woes, and centre-back Radu Dragusin is the latest to be added to the treatment table. He picked up a knee injury in the second half of the game in midweek.

The Romanian joins James Maddison, Wilson Odobert, Guglielmo Vicario, Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner, Dominic Solanke, Destiny Udogie and Cristian Romero on the sidelines for this one.

Brentford vs Tottenham Head-to-Head

Brentford have faced Spurs seven times in the Premier League and have recorded just one victory in those matches (D3 L3).

Each of the three games played between these sides at the Gtech has finished in a draw.

Spurs were victorious the last time these sides met, coming out as 3-1 victors at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September. They are now looking to complete a league double over the Bees for the first time.

Brentford vs Tottenham Prediction

Brentford’s impressive form at the Gtech this season means they are rated as favourites with the supercomputer to triumph over Tottenham, winning 44.2% of the 10,000 pre-match simulations.

Despite their well-documented struggles, Spurs still retain a 31.8% chance of coming out on top, with the draw occurring 24.0% of the time.

Brentford currently occupy 11th spot in the Premier League table are most likely to finish there come May (17.4%). Spurs, conversely, are stumbling down in 15th and have a 20% chance of finishing there come the end of the season. Their chances of being relegated are only rated as 0.3% possibility.

Brentford vs Tottenham Predicted Lineups

Opta Power Rankings

The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system. They assign an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams. This score is on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.

Ahead of kick-off this weekend, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.

The pressure on Ange Postecoglou continues to mount as Spurs lose again. Re-live the action with the best facts and Opta data in our Tottenham vs Leicester stats page.

Tottenham’s miserable form continued with a shock 2-1 defeat at home to struggling Leicester City on Sunday, their fourth Premier League defeat in a row.

The loss heaps further pressure on Ange Postecoglou, who simultaneously became the first Spurs boss since David Pleat in 2003-04 to lose four top-flight games in succession on two occasions.

Postecoglou’s side did take the lead and spent considerable time in the ascendancy, but the game laid bare their defensive deficiencies and ability to shoot themselves in the foot.

Richarlison put them in front in the 33rd minute with a close-range header from Pedro Porro’s inch-perfect cross, the Brazilian making a real contribution on his first league start of the season.

But Spurs collapsed just after the break.

Jamie Vardy was left with the simplest of finishes after Antonín Kinsky failed to cut out Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s low cross, taking the 38-year-old’s tally to seven for the campaign, four more than he managed in the entirety of 2022-23.

Then, three minutes and 15 seconds later, Bilal El Khannouss slotted a fine finish into the bottom-right corner from 20 yards to leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium stunned after Porro’s pass sold Rodrigo Bentancur short.

Porro looked one of Spurs’ likelier routes back to level terms, with the wing-back ending the game with a match-high five shots, though his decision-making was arguably questionable.

Otherwise, Spurs created little of note despite their desperate position in the latter stages.

Leicester did enough to hold on to the victory, their first in the league since beating West Ham 3-1 on 3 December, thus ending a run of eight without a win.

The result also prevented them suffering an eighth successive league defeat, which would have equalled their club record set between March and April 2001.

Three points ensure Leicester climb out of the relegation zone, while Spurs stay down in 15th.

Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Tottenham vs Leicester stats from their Premier League meeting at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own post-match analysis.

Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.

Tottenham vs Leicester Stats: Post-Match Facts

Amongst defenders in the Premier League this season, only Fulham’s Antonee Robinson (9) and Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold (6) have recorded more assists than Pedro Porro (5).

Leicester have kept just four clean sheets across their 36 Premier League games against Tottenham, only keeping fewer against Manchester United (2) among sides who they’ve played 15+ times in the competition.

Tottenham conceded two goals in the opening five minutes of the second half in this match, the first time that Spurs have suffered that fate since November 1997 against Liverpool.

With this loss, it was the first time since defeat to Notts County in 1912 that Tottenham lost at home against a side who’d lost their previous seven league games in succession.

Tottenham have failed to win any of their last seven Premier League games (D1 L6), their longest winless run in the top-flight since a nine-match stint between May and October 2008.

We look ahead to Sunday’s Premier League match at Goodison Park with our Everton vs Tottenham prediction and preview. Can David Moyes secure the first win of his second spell with the Toffees?

Everton vs Tottenham Stats: The Key Insights

Tottenham are only slight favourites for victory with the Opta supercomputer, winning 39.2% of match simulations compared to Everton’s 34.4%.

David Moyes beat Tottenham 2-1 last season as West Ham boss. The last manager to beat Ange Postecoglou in the league with two different teams was Takahiro Shimotaira in the Japanese J1 League.

An average of 3.6 goals have been scored per Premier League game involving Tottenham under Postecoglou (59 matches, 117 goals, 93 conceded), the highest figure of any manager to oversee 50 or more matches in the competition.

Sunday’s Premier League action features a meeting between two out-of-form sides at Goodison Park, with one manager hoping to kickstart his reign and the other seeing his position questioned amid a miserable run of results.

David Moyes’ second stint as Everton manager began with a 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa, which left them teetering just one point above the relegation zone. Ange Postecoglou, meanwhile, is under pressure after Tottenham’s winless run stretched to five Premier League matches following Wednesday’s north London derby defeat at Arsenal.

Moyes oversaw a 2-1 win over Tottenham as West Ham manager last season, and could achieve a rare feat if he triumphs over Postecoglou again. The last coach to beat Postecoglou twice in league action with two different clubs was Takahiro Shimotaira in the Japanese J1 League, beating the Australian (then in charge of Yokohama F. Marinos) with Kashiwa Reysol and Yokohama FC.

Everton’s miserable form in front of goal continued in midweek, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin missing several good chances as his goal drought stretched to 16 league matches.

Since the start of November, Everton are the lowest scorers in the Premier League with just five goals in 11 games, and two of those were Craig Dawson own goals in a 4-0 win over Wolves. They have failed to net in 12 games this season, becoming one of only four teams to do so in their opening 20 games of a campaign in the competition, along with Norwich City in 2021-22 (14), Southampton in 2003-04 (12) and Derby County in 2007-08 (12).

Like Spurs, Everton have started 2025 with back-to-back Premier League defeats. The Toffees have lost three straight league games to start a calendar year on six previous occasions, most recently in 2022 and 2023.

Tottenham, meanwhile, have only done so twice in their history (in 1993 and 1994), and while cup victories over Liverpool and Tamworth have given supporters hope of silverware, their poor league form has put Postecoglou under scrutiny.

Languishing in 13th place, Tottenham are closer to the relegation zone (eight points off Wolves) than the top eight (10 points off Bournemouth), and are on course to register their lowest-ever Premier League points tally (43 at their current points-per-game rate).

Injuries to Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Ugodie, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ben Davies, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have not helped Postecoglou’s cause, but he simply must find a way to plug Spurs’ leaky backline.

Since Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham last season, 210 goals have been scored in Spurs’ 59 Premier League games (117 for, 93 against), at an average of 3.6 per match – that is the highest figure among all managers to have overseen at least 50 games in the competition.

With Tottenham’s defence still patched up, they may be relying on their attack – led by Son Heung-min – to make the difference. The South Korean scored at Arsenal in midweek and has been involved in 10 goals in his 12 Premier League starts versus Everton, scoring seven goals and assisting three.

Everton vs Tottenham Head-to-Head

Everton have won just one of their last 24 Premier League games against Spurs (11 draws, 12 defeats), beating them 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September 2020.

Tottenham are unbeaten on their last 11 Premier League trips to Goodison, though they have drawn eight times during that run (three wins). They are targeting their first league double over the Toffees since 2017-18, having won 4-0 in the reverse fixture in August.

Everton versus Tottenham at Goodison, meanwhile, is the most drawn specific fixture in Premier League history, with 17 of the 32 meetings finishing level.

Each of the last five such meetings have been drawn, with no exact fixture ever finishing level six times in a row in Premier League history.

Everton vs Tottenham Prediction

The Opta supercomputer struggles to split these teams, with Tottenham narrowly favoured. They are given a 39.2% chance of victory.

That means Everton are given over a 60% chance of a positive result: they won 34.4% of our pre-match simulations, drawing 26.4%.

Everton vs Tottenham Predicted Lineups

Opta Power Rankings

The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system that assigns an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.

Ahead of kick-off on Sunday, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.

We look ahead to Wednesday night’s League Cup semi-final first leg with our Tottenham vs Liverpool prediction and preview. Can Spurs take a lead up to Anfield for the second leg next month?

Tottenham vs Liverpool Stats: The Key Insights

Liverpool are favourites to take a lead back to Anfield, winning this first leg in 58.7% of Opta supercomputer pre-match simulations.

Liverpool (20) and Tottenham (18) have featured in the final four of the League Cup more often than anyone else.

Liverpool have lost just one of their last 19 games in the League Cup (W12 D6).

Having played out a nine-goal thriller in the Premier League only last month, many will be interested to see what happens when Tottenham host Liverpool in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup.

No other teams have appeared in the final four of this competition as often as Liverpool (20) and Tottenham (18), and now they will face off for a place in the final.

Ange Postecoglou’s men have home advantage in the first leg, with the return game at Anfield scheduled for early February. The winner will face either Arsenal or Newcastle United in the showpiece event at Wembley next month.

Both teams will be eager to recover from disappointing results at the weekend, with Spurs losing 2-1 at home to Newcastle. In fact, they have only won one of their last eight home games in all competitions, which was their 4-3 win over Manchester United in the last round of the League Cup.

Liverpool had a disappointing result against Ruben Amorim’s men on Sunday, held to a 2-2 draw at Anfield as they failed to capitalise on dropped points from Chelsea and Arsenal on Matchday 20 of the Premier League.

They should be confident of a better time on Wednesday, though, having beaten Tottenham 6-3 just two-and-a-half weeks ago.

This is Arne Slot’s first season in English football, but he will hope Liverpool’s legacy in this competition gives them a helping hand. The Reds have progressed from seven of their last nine League Cup semi-final ties and are looking to reach the final in consecutive years for the first time since a run of four between 1981 and 1984.

Interestingly, Spurs have never lost when playing the first leg of a League Cup semi-final tie (including single-game ties) at home, winning five and drawing twice. However, Liverpool have lost just one of their last 19 games in the League Cup (W12 D6), which was a 3-2 defeat at Manchester City in the 2022-23 fourth round.

Cody Gakpo has been in a tremendous run of form, and loves this competition in particular. He has been involved in nine goals in his nine League Cup appearances, scoring eight and assisting one.

As for team news, Spurs are expected to go close to as strong as possible, though continue to suffer from injury issues, especially at the back. However, Rodrigo Bentancur will be available again after suspension and Radu Dragusin will hope to have shaken off an illness that caused him to be substituted at half-time against Newcastle. Son Heung-min and James Maddison should start after only being named on the bench at the weekend, seemingly rested for this clash.

Tottenham could give a debut to new 21-year-old goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who they signed from Slavia Prague earlier in the week. He has received his work permit, and could replace Brandon Austin, who started against Newcastle last weekend.

Slot has used this competition to rotate so far, but will likely go stronger here, especially considering their next game is against fourth-tier Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup on Saturday, when he will probably rest most if not all of his star players. Like Dragusin, Dominik Szoboszlai will aim to recover from illness, which prevented the Hungary international from making the squad against Man Utd.

Tottenham vs Liverpool Head-to-Head

Tottenham have the edge over Liverpool in their previous League Cup meetings, having progressed from four of their seven ties in the competition overall, but the Reds did win their most recent League Cup clash, securing a 2-1 victory at Anfield in the 2016- 17 fourth round.

As mentioned, Liverpool beat Tottenham 6-3 in north London in the Premier League only last month – the last English team to score 7+ goals away to Spurs in a single campaign in all competitions was Arsenal in 2010-11, while the most a team has scored at Spurs in a season is eight (Chelsea in 2001-02).

Spurs have lost their last two League Cup games against the previous winners of the competition, most recently in the 2021 final vs Manchester City. The last time they beat the holders was in the 2008 final (2-1 vs Chelsea), which was the last time they lifted a major trophy.

Tottenham vs Liverpool Prediction

The Opta supercomputer believes Liverpool will win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the second time in a month, with the Merseysiders coming out on top in 58.7% of simulations.

Spurs take a lead to Anfield in 20.1% of sims, while a draw that probably favours Liverpool more than their hosts occurred 21.1% of the time.

Opta Power Rankings

The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system. They assign an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams. This score is on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.

Ahead of kick-off on Wednesday night, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.

We look ahead to Saturday’s Premier League clash with our Tottenham vs Newcastle United prediction and preview. Can under-fire Ange Postecoglou find a much-needed win?

Tottenham vs Newcastle Stats: The Key Insights

Newcastle United came out on top most often in the Opta supercomputer’s pre-match simulations, winning 41% of the time.

Tottenham vs Newcastle is the most-played Premier League fixture never to finish 0-0.

Anthony Gordon has been directly involved in a goal in each of his last four league appearances for Newcastle (1 goal, 3 assists).

Ange Postecoglou will be desperately hoping a new year brings improved fortunes when his struggling Tottenham host Newcastle United in Saturday’s early Premier League kick-off.

Pressure continues to mount on Postecoglou after Jørgen Strand Larsen’s late leveller snatched a 2-2 draw for Wolves on Sunday. Rodrigo Bentancur and Brennan Johnson had dragged Tottenham ahead after Hwang Hee-chan’s opener, only for another familiar disappointment to follow in the 87th minute.

Johnson has been a rare positive in an erratic season for Spurs. He is their top scorer in all competitions this term with 11 goals, while the Welshman has also either scored (2) or assisted (2) a goal in each of his last four Premier League home games.

However, Johnson’s success has not translated into positive results at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Postecoglou’s side are winless in five Premier League home games, their longest such streak since an eight-match run between March and October 2008 under Juande Ramos.

Spurs last had a longer winless run at home in a single season between October 1993 and April 1994 (14), and their struggles have seen them slip down to 11th in the table – a massive 11 points adrift of the top four.

There is no good news on the injury front to ease Postecoglou’s troubles. Destiny Udogie limped off with a hamstring issue against Wolves, joining the likes of Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Guglielmo Vicario as absentees. Bentancur is also suspended after picking up a needless fifth yellow card of the season late on in his last outing.

Improvements are not guaranteed here either, considering Tottenham have lost their first league game in two of the last five calendar years (W2 D1), as many times as they had in the previous 16 years combined (W11 D3).

Newcastle have won their first league match in just one of the last 12 calendar years (D3 L8), winning 1-0 at Stoke City on New Year’s Day 2018. However, Eddie Howe’s side make the trip north in impressive form.

A 2-0 victory over Manchester United on Monday made it four straight top-flight victories to end 2024, lifting Newcastle to fifth in the league and just three points behind Chelsea.

Alexander Isak was again on target at Old Trafford, taking him to 25 Premier League goals in 2024 – only Alan Shearer in 2002 has scored more in a single year for the club (27). The Swedish striker’s 43 goals in the competition overall can also only be bettered by Shearer (148), Callum Wilson (47) and Peter Beardsley (46) for Newcastle.

Anthony Gordon teed up Newcastle’s second strike against United – a header from Joelinton – and has now been directly involved in a goal in each of his last four Premier League appearances (1 goal, 3 assists). He has also assisted in his last two away games against Ipswich Town and Man Utd.

Fabian Schär will be suspended for this clash after his fifth caution of the season last time out, while Sven Botman, Emil Krafth, Nick Pope, Jamaal Lascelles and Wilson remain as the other confirmed absentees for the visitors.

Tottenham vs Newcastle Head-to-Head

This pair have amassed 189 goals between them in Premier League games, the third-highest scoring fixture in the competition’s history.

Indeed, Tottenham and Newcastle have met 59 times without ever drawing 0-0, the most in Premier League history.

It could be tough to split the pair again – Tottenham have won two of their last three home league games against Newcastle, as many as they had in their previous seven. However, Howe’s side have won four of their last five Premier League outings against Spurs (L1), previously taking 15 games to achieve that many wins.

Newcastle are also out for the double over Spurs for the second time in three seasons, having done so just once in 12 campaigns before, after Harvey Barnes and Isak scored in a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture this term.

Tottenham vs Newcastle Prediction

The Opta supercomputer is leaning towards an away win on Saturday, with Newcastle triumphing in 41% of the 10,000 pre-match simulations.

Tottenham managed to end a five-game winless run on home soil in 34.5% of data-led sims, while the draw was ranked at 24.5%.

Tottenham vs Newcastle Predicted Lineups

Opta Power Rankings

The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system. They assign an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams. This score is on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.

Ahead of kick-off this weekend, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.

Mohamed Salah grabbed four goal involvements as Liverpool beat Tottenham in a nine-goal thriller in north London. Re-live the action with the best facts and Opta data in our Tottenham vs Liverpool stats page.

Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points after beating Tottenham 6-3 on Sunday in another chaotic game for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

Luis Díaz (two), Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah (two) did the damage for Arne Slot’s men, while James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke pulled goals back for Spurs.

Salah ended the game with two goals and two assists, and did his best to give Liverpool a fast start, having five shots in the first 18 minutes, including hitting the crossbar, but it was Díaz who put the visitors ahead in the 23rd minute. The Colombian headed in an inch-perfect cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold, his sixth Premier League goal of the season, and first since September.

Mac Allister made it two in the 36th minute with another header, the Argentine’s first league goal of the campaign, before Maddison halved the deficit just a few minutes later after Mac Allister was dispossessed by Kulusevski, It took the former Leicester City man to 100 Premier League goal involvements (55 goals, 45 assists) in 208 appearances.

Liverpool’s two-goal cushion was restored in first-half stoppage time though as Szoboszlai was played in by Salah on the counter-attack, before slotting through the legs of Fraser Forster.

With that assist, Salah became the first player to reach double figures for both goals and assists before Christmas in a Premier League season in the history of the competition, but he wasn’t done there.

The Egyptian added two more goals for Liverpool inside the first 16 minutes of the second half to make it 5-1, meaning not only did he go ahead of Bukayo Saka for Premier League assists this season in the game (11) but he also took the outright lead in the race for the Golden Boot (15).

In typical fashion, Tottenham kept coming at Liverpool despite their woes at the back, with Kulusevski and Solanke pulling it back to 5-3 with seven minutes remaining, but Díaz put the game to bed with his second of the game when he drilled in from Salah’s pass.

Despite recent criticism of Spurs’ resilience, this was the first time they had lost by more than a single goal this season. They head into Christmas Day in 11th place, though, while Liverpool will be top on 25 December.

Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Tottenham vs Liverpool stats from their Premier League meeting at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own post-match analysis.

Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta facts on the game as well.

Can Ange Postecoglou get another result against the Red Devils? We look ahead to Thursday’s EFL Cup quarter-final with our Tottenham vs Man Utd prediction and preview.

Tottenham vs Man Utd Stats: The Key Insights

Tottenham are backed to overcome Manchester United in 90 minutes, winning 46.5% of pre-match simulations by the Opta supercomputer.

Man Utd are winless in their last four games against Spurs and were 3-0 losers to them in the Premier League this season.

Spurs have progressed from their last four quarter-final ties in the EFL Cup.

Tottenham and Manchester United head into Thursday’s EFL Cup quarter-final meeting after statement victories last weekend.

Ruben Amorim got one over fierce rivals Manchester City at the first time of asking, snatching a late 2-1 victory on Sunday. United had trailed to Josko Gvardiol’s header, before Amad Diallo won a penalty for Bruno Fernandes to score, and then scored a last-gasp winner of his own.

Both Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were left out of the travelling squad for that derby-day win, with Amorim laying down the marker for his demands early into his tenure. He may be tempted to bring Garnacho back, however, considering his EFL Cup record.

No player has more than the United winger’s three assists in the competition this season, while he also scored another three. He is the first to manage 3+ for both goals and assists in an EFL Cup campaign since Kevin De Bruyne in 2015-16 (5 goals, 3 assists) and first to do so for United since Louis Saha in 2005-06 (6 goals, 3 assists).

Those impressive numbers from Garnacho have helped United smash 12 goals in this season’s EFL Cup, the most of any side. They hammered Barnsley 7-0 and Leicester City 5-2 in the previous rounds, and could become just the second team in history to score five or more goals in three straight matches in the competition.

Chelsea are the only previous side to achieve that feat in 2012 (6-0 vs Wolves, 5-4 vs Man Utd, 5-1 vs Leeds United), though the Red Devils’ route to the last eight has been far from conventional. The Barnsley thrashing came under Erik ten Hag before Ruud van Nistelrooy oversaw the win over Leicester, prior to joining the Foxes as their new manager.

With Amorim now in charge, a feat could be on offer. Only three Premier League teams have progressed from three consecutive rounds in a season under a different manager – Sunderland in 2013-14 (Paolo Di Canio, Kevin Ball and Gus Poyet), Southampton in 2022-23 (Ralph Hasenhüttl, Ruben Sellés and Nathan Jones) and Wolves in 2022-23 (Bruno Lage, Steve Davis and Julen Lopetegui).

Spurs also thrashed Southampton 5-0 in their last outing, with all those goals coming in the first half at St. Mary’s. James Maddison scored twice, with Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and Pape Sarr also on target for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

That somewhat eased the mounting pressure on Postecoglou, whose side had gone winless in five games across all competitions before the Southampton thumping.

The next challenge for Postecoglou will be edging Tottenham further towards silverware in the EFL Cup, in which they have progressed from each of their last four quarter-final ties. Their last such defeat came in a 2-1 loss against West Ham in the 2013-14 campaign.

Spurs have their own cup star, too, with Kulusevski matching Garnacho’s three assists in this season’s competition. He may be forced to feature here, considering Tottenham’s injury woes.

Son was removed at half-time against Southampton due to a knock and will be assessed before this clash. Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Rodrigo Bentancur, Richarlison and first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario are among the other headline absentees.

Amorim has little such concerns on the injury front. Mason Mount and Luke Shaw will be out for this fixture, while Noussair Mazraoui’s knock against Man City is still being assessed.

Tottenham vs Man Utd Head-to-Head

Tottenham will fancy their chances here given they have gone unbeaten in their last four meetings with United, drawing two and winning two in the Premier League.

Postecoglou’s side humiliated United with a 3-0 win at Old Trafford this season, though they have not won consecutive games against them since April 1990 (three in a row).

The pair have split wins evenly across six EFL Cup ties, though United have triumphed in each of their last two such meetings. Those successes came over a decade ago, however, winning the 2009 final on penalties along with a 2-0 victory in the 2009-10 quarter-final.

Tottenham vs Man Utd Prediction

The Opta supercomputer swayed towards a home victory inside 90 minutes, with Tottenham triumphing in 46.5% of 10,000 pre-match simulations.

United still hold a 27% chance of winning in normal time, while the draw – and a penalty shoot-out decider – was rated at 26.5%.

Opta Power Rankings

The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system. They assign an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams. This score is on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.

Ahead of kick-off on Thursday night, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.

We look ahead to Sunday’s Premier League game at St. Mary’s with our Southampton vs Tottenham prediction and preview. Spurs will look to bounce back from last weekend’s collapse against Chelsea and Thursday’s poor outing in Europe.

Southampton vs Tottenham: The Key Insights

The Opta supercomputer is backing Tottenham to pick up a much-needed victory, with Spurs winning 52.3% of pre-match simulations.

Dejan Kulusevski could make his 100th Premier League appearance in this match, with his first also coming against Southampton back in February 2022. He has 21 assists in the league, with only Son Heung-min providing more for Spurs since his debut (24).

Southampton have scored in each of their last 15 Premier League games against Tottenham, their longest scoring streak against an opponent in the competition’s history.

Tottenham will look to hit back from a very disappointing week when they head to St. Mary’s on Sunday to take on struggling Southampton in the Premier League.

Last Sunday, Tottenham let a 2-0 lead slip on their way to being defeated 4-3 by Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with much of the post-match discourse centring on under-fire manager Ange Postecoglou and his tactics.

Then on Thursday in the Europa League, Dejan Kulusevski rescued a scarcely deserved point for Spurs as they drew 1-1 with Rangers.

Their defeat against Chelsea in the Premier League leaves Spurs heading into this weekend’s game in 11th, already seven points off the top four after a run of just one win in eight outings in all competitions.

In their first 11 Premier League games this season, Tottenham faced an average of just 9.6 shots and 3.4 shots on target per game. In their last four, they’ve faced 18.8 shots and 6.8 shots on target per game.

Their defensive frailties have seen them lose 14 of their 33 Premier League games in 2024, just one fewer than they did in 42 games in 2023. They last lost 15+ league games in consecutive calendar years in 2002 (15), 2003 (20) and 2004 (15).

However, Sunday’s fixture could provide a way for Spurs to get over their poor form, taking on a side sat bottom of the league with just one win all season and already eight points adrift of safety.

Tottenham are unbeaten in their last 13 Premier League games against sides starting the day bottom of the table (10 wins, three draws) since a 1-0 loss at West Brom in May 2018. Spurs have scored 42 goals in this run, netting at least three times in each of the last eight.

Southampton have won just one of their last 28 Premier League games (six draws, 21 defeats), with their 1-0 win over Everton in November their only clean sheet in their last 27 in the competition.

Tottenham captain Son Heung-min scored a late consolation against Chelsea, and this weekend pits him against one of his favourite opponents.

Son has scored more goals (10) against Southampton than he has any other Premier League team, while he has also provided the joint-most assists against the Saints (five, level with Manchester City).

Both teams’ fortunes have been hampered by lengthy injury lists, with Spurs receiving a huge blow against Chelsea as Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, only just returning to fitness, both went down in that game and will be absent for the foreseeable future.

Additionally, Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur are both suspended, while Richarlison and Guglielmo Vicario won’t play until 2025.

Southampton boss Russell Martin may be boosted by the returns of Jan Bednarek and Paul Onuachu on Sunday, though the likes of Adam Lallana and Gavin Bazunu will remain absent.

Southampton vs Tottenham Head-to-Head

Southampton have lost just one of their last six home league games against Tottenham (two wins, three draws), going down 5-2 in September 2020.

Tottenham, meanwhile, have only failed to score in one of their last 22 Premier League meetings with Southampton, a 1-0 away loss in January 2020.

The last meeting between the sides was back in March 2023, when a 93rd-minute James Ward-Prowse penalty earned Southampton a 3-3 draw at St. Mary’s.

Southampton vs Tottenham Prediction

The Opta supercomputer strongly favours Tottenham to take the three points on Sunday, with the visitors coming out victorious in 52.3% of its 10,000 pre-match simulations.

Southampton badly need a win, and they come out on top 25.2% of the time. A draw, meanwhile, is rated at a 22.5% probability.

The teams’ poor starts have already left their pre-season ambitions of European qualification for Tottenham and survival for Southampton hanging by a thread.

Southampton are predicted to finish bottom with just a 3.0% chance of staying up, while Spurs’ likeliest finish is seventh, reaching the top four in just 2.3% of simulations.

Southampton vs Tottenham Predicted Lineups

Opta Power Rankings

The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system that assigns an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.

Ahead of kick-off this weekend, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.